Cost for sailing family rescue: $663,000

Eric Kaufman thanks supporters, asks critics to hold judgment

The Kaufman family disembarks the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) following their rescue at sea April 6. The rescue was a joint effort involving Navy, Coast Guard and California Air National Guard personnel.
— U.S. Navy photo

The Kaufman family disembarks the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) following their rescue at sea April 6. The rescue was a joint effort involving Navy, Coast Guard and California Air National Guard personnel.
/ U.S. Navy photo

The tally is in for the total public cost of the Apr. 3 to 9 Rebel Heart sailboat rescue mission.

Taxpayers spent roughly $663,000 to save Eric and Charlotte Kaufman and their two girls, ages 3 and 1, based on the use of a Navy frigate and four California Air National Guard aircraft.

Military officials say they have no plans to bill the family, and that the sailing and flying time were already budgeted for training.

An attempt to reach the Kaufmans through a sister was unsuccessful Thursday, but Eric Kaufman posted a morning blog item that thanked his rescuers and again defended the family's seagoing lifestyle.

U-T San Diego compiled the cost figures from a National Guard estimate of the flight hours involved, plus a Defense Department reimbursement schedule for the two kinds of aircraft used, two MC-130P Combat Shadow planes and two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. (Reimbursements are based on who used the service, such as type of federal or other agency. For this computation, a midpoint figure was chosen.)

The helicopters and one C-130 flew from the Bay Area to Cabo San Lucas on Apr. 3 and waited to see if needed. The other C-130 made the same general journey but also flew out to the Rebel Heart, which was adrift 900 miles off Cabo San Lucas.

National Guard estimated price tag: $447,000.

The Navy provided the average daily operating cost of an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate. The San Diego-based frigate Vandegrift devoted 5 and a half days to the rescue mission, leaving early Apr. 4 and returning home with the Kaufman family Wednesday afternoon.

Navy price tag: At least $216,000

The Navy frigate Vandegrift returned to San Diego with the Kaufman family Wednesday morning following a 2,400-mile rescue mission, Charlotte and Eric Kaufman and their two young daughters were rescued in their 36 foot sailboat off the coast of Mexico. The Coast Guard, California Air National Guard and Navy all joined the rescue effort.

The Navy frigate Vandegrift returned to San Diego with the Kaufman family Wednesday morning following a 2,400-mile rescue mission, Charlotte and Eric Kaufman and their two young daughters were rescued in their 36 foot sailboat off the coast of Mexico. The Coast Guard, California Air National Guard and Navy all joined the rescue effort.

Neither figure includes staffing costs, as the Navy and National Guard salaries would have been paid, anyway.

Some of the Guardsman involved were reservists, but an official said these hours will count toward their allotted drill time.

As news of the Rebel Heart rescue spread, there’s been a public outcry to hand the Kaufman family a bill for the government resources used.

Commenters have called Eric and Charlotte Kaufman reckless for taking young children on what was supposed to be an around-the-world sailing voyage on a 36-foot boat.

The Kaufman’s distress call to the U.S. Coast Guard was prompted by their 1-year-old daughter, Lyra, who had been ill for days with an infection that hadn’t responded to antibiotics, according to news accounts.

Also, their boat was dead in the water when National Guard pararescuers arrived. The Rebel Heart only had 10 to 11 hours of diesel fuel left and took on water when the engine engaged, according to a 129th Air Rescue Wing guardsman.

On Thursday, a California National Guard spokesman said the mission served as valuable training for the pararescue team because it involved real-world conditions and coordinating with a foreign nation, Mexico, for use of air space.

“You can’t make exercises like this up,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Keegan. “That’s what I think is lost in this.”

“The family was very, very well prepared for this voyage. They had all the necessary radio and equipment and training… Theoretically, they could have brought their boat back to shore. … the boat wasn’t sinking. It was just a small amount of water coming on board,” said the pararescueman who gave his rank, master sergeant, but not his full name.

Why, then, did the family issue the distress call?

“Time,” he said. “They were three weeks out with favorable winds. Turning around and heading back toward shore with his sick daughter, would have taken too long. So (Eric Kaufman) decided, ‘Hey, my family is worth more than my boat, so let’s get out of here while I can.’ “

The social media-savvy Kaufmans have been fairly silent for the past few days, but on Thursday morning Eric Kaufman posted a statement on his blog that thanked the family’s rescuers.

He also thanked the sailing community for support and asked the family’s critics to wait to hear “all the details.”

Kaufman posted:

“We have been happy with the maritime life we have been able to share with our daughters. Even as we write this, several other boats are crossing the same stretch of water that Rebel Heart was on, with families who seek to show their children the world. Children have been sailing on boats for a long time, and the modern cruising family dates back several decades.

To our supporters and those who also seek an adventurous path with their families, we thank you for your kind words and support. From professional rescuers, professional sailors, and other families at sea we have been buoyed by your warmth and kindness.”

Kaufman also claimed that “there have been many inaccuracies reported through various media related to our daughter's health, the vessels' condition, and our overall maritime situation.”